Oliver Stone......?!

Started by moonshiner, March 13, 2003, 12:17:04 AM

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Weak2ndAct

Quote from: themodernage02SALVADOR and HEAVEN AND EARTH.
You can be okay never seeing Heaven and Earth, it's terrible.  Salvador is a masterpiece, see it now!!!!

MacGuffin

Stone To Recreate Thatcher's Reign?

Movie-maker Oliver Stone is lining up another historical figure for his next biopic - former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The director is refusing to let the critical mauling and disastrous box office performance of his latest film Alexander - based on Macedonian warrior Alexander The Great - and is pursuing his current dream of bringing the British leader's life to the big screen. And Stone is determined to land Meryl Streep for the lead role. He says, "Margaret Thatcher is an amazing woman and a good subject for a film. I'm thinking about Meryl Streep to play the Iron Lady." Pals claim Stone - who's documented the lives of shamed President Richard Nixon, assassinated leader John F. Kennedy and rock star Jim Morrison - is now keen to focus his films on some of his female idols. One friends says, "Oliver is one of Baroness Thatcher's greatest fans. Alexander was slammed by critics, so maybe he think it's time to concentrate on a great woman for a film. Thatcher was one of the most powerful political figures in the world and her life has been as colorful as any superstar."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

rustinglass

She had her honeymoon on the island where I used to live. I wonder if he'll shoot there.
"In Serbia a lot of people hate me because they want to westernise, not understanding that the western world is bipolar, with very good things and very bad things. Since they don't have experience of the west, they even believe that western shit is pie."
-Emir Kusturica

ono

You know you're struggling for material when you keep on doing biopics.

Ravi

Quote from: wantautopia?You know you're struggling for material when you keep on doing biopics.

Stone to recreate Stone's life in Stone

Director Oliver Stone (JFK, Natural Born Killers) will soon commence shooting his own life story in Stone.  The film is said to cover his childhood up through his time in Vietnam and upto the filming of Stone.  James Garner will be playing the director.

modage

damnit.  i wish baz was doing this one.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

El Duderino

Did I just get cock-blocked by Bob Saget?

Gold Trumpet

Quote from: MacGuffinStone To Recreate Thatcher's Reign?

I hope he does this film. Everything I read about his future either says he's quitting feature films or has no plans to return to them anytime soon. Going into Alexander, I always had the impression it may be his last film and in ways, with the scope and subject, it would be a perfect ending film. Its just that the film is not up to par with his talent and frankly, I still go back to his earlier films instead of many of the new films because I really am bored with whats being put out today for the most part.

Alexandro

Isn't Alexander Stones's first  (no documentary) film set outside the 20th century???

Maybe he's just not good at dialogue, acting and all that stuff outside what he really know...One of the reasons everyone laughs in Alexander is because the dialogues sound so...boring...

El Duderino

Quote from: AlexandroOne of the reasons everyone laughs in Alexander is because the dialogues sound so...boring...

i dunno...i was laughing at the delivery.

i was also slitting my wrists during the 20 minute opening monologue.
Did I just get cock-blocked by Bob Saget?

Gamblour.

Alexander the Great....Prime Minister Thatcher...Post Master General of Poland? Could it be next?
WWPTAD?

MacGuffin

Oliver Stone 'Makes Peace' With Turkey

Oliver Stone said Tuesday that he regretted that "many hearts were broken in Turkey" following the release of his 1978 film "Midnight Express" and added that he had been misunderstood.

Officially, Stone was in Istanbul to promote his new historical epic "Alexander," but attention quickly focused on his 1978 film, which Turks complain tarnished the country's image abroad.

"Oliver Stone came to make peace," the daily Sabah said Tuesday.

In a written statement in Turkish handed out by the Turkish distributor of his film, Stone said he regretted "being misunderstood" and that "many hearts were broken in Turkey" over "Midnight Express." Stone also met Tuesday with Culture Minister Erkan Mumcu.

Although Turkey has long had a struggling human rights record, Turks say the film, which showed a young American being caught for drug-smuggling and brutalized by Turkish jailers, was grossly exaggerated.

In recent years, Turkey's government has pledged "zero-tolerance" for torture and even hopes the European Union will agree to extend membership talks with it at a summit later this week in Brussels, Belgium.

The 1978 film was first banned in Turkey, but has since been broadcast on Turkish television channels. Stone's "Alexander" reportedly cost US$150 million (euro112.6 million) to make, but has made a slow start at the box office.


U.S. filmmaker and director Oliver Stone, right, meets with Turkey's Culture and Tourism Minister Erkan Mumcu in Istanbul, Turkey, Dec. 14, 2004. Oliver Stone said that he regretted that "many hearts were broken in Turkey" following the release of his 1978 film "Midnight Express" and added that he had been misunderstood. Officially, Stone is in Istanbul to promote his new historical epic "Alexander," but attention quickly focused on his 1978 film, which Turks complain tarnished the country's image abroad.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

Alethia

Quote from: MacGuffinU.S. filmmaker and director Oliver Stone

hmm.

Ravi

Quote from: eward
Quote from: MacGuffinU.S. filmmaker and director Oliver Stone

hmm.

He actually hand-manufactures film stock in his spare time, so technically that is correct.

Bethie

I know its posted at the top of this page how Stone apologized to Turkey but here is a recent (Jan. 7-13) article from LA Weekly featuring an interview with Billy Hayes, the man that actually wrote Midnight Express.

I only skimmed the article (and the one at the top of the page) so I dont really know what it's all about.. I've never seen Midnight Express.


Oliver Stone Apologizes to Turkey
And Billy Hayes, author of Midnight Express, reacts

by Paul Krassner  



Of all the movies I've ever seen, the Oliver Stone–scripted Midnight Express — which featured images of appalling conditions and brutality in a Turkish prison — was one of the most powerful. And now, just days prior to the European Union's decision whether to launch membership talks with Turkey, Stone has apologized for offending the Turks.

"It's true I overdramatized the script," Stone told reporters in Istanbul. "But the reality of Turkish prisons at the time was also referred to . . . by various human rights associations." Stone had been afraid of visiting Turkey since the release of Midnight Express (1978), he said, because of the effect it had on the country. "For years, I heard that Turkish people were angry with me, and I didn't feel safe there. The culture ministry gave me a guarantee that I would be safe, so I feel comfortable now."

Midnight Express was adapted from the book by Billy Hayes, an American who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for attempting to smuggle hashish out of Turkey, and eventually escaped. Stone also did a week's worth of interviews with Hayes in a hotel room after he'd read the book.

"That was fun," Hayes recalled, "like being in a washing machine on tilt. And while some people find him a bit much, I love Oliver's energy."

I contacted Hayes to get his reaction to Stone's recent statement. "How," I asked him, "was the script overdramatized?"

"My biggest problem with the screenplay and the film was that you didn't see a single good Turk," said Hayes, "so the overall impression was that all Turks are like those depicted in the film. And, of course, this is not true. It doesn't take away from the fact that the prison was brutal and the legal system hypocritical, but that can be said of almost any country, particularly, and unfortunately, ours. Prison guards are not necessarily the cream of any society."

Did your biting the tongue off a fellow prisoner actually occur?

"The tongue-biting was the filmmaker's way of having the informer get his dramatically just reward. Actually, I tried to bash that sonbitch's head in but the guards stopped me. I don't have a problem with the intent of that scene, but it's so strange now to remember that kind of up-close and personal violence."

What would you say was most offensive to the Turks?

"The most offensive scene for the Turks was Billy's speech in the courtroom calling them all 'a nation of pigs,' etc. In fact, when I spoke to the court, knowing I was having my sentence changed to life, I was trying to hold on to my shredding sanity and wanted to affect these people who were taking my life away but really knew nothing about me as a person. I said something like, 'I've been in your jail four years now and if you sentence me to more prison I can't agree with you, all I can do is forgive you . . .' It affected them. The judge told me his hands were tied. They all looked upset. Then they sentenced me to life, which the kindly judge reduced to 30 years. Thanks. I think. Anyway, Oliver wanted to know how I could forgive people who had just taken my life away. I told him about trying to maintain my balance. He asked how I felt the next morning after sentencing. I told him I was furious. So he wrote that courtroom speech."

Was there anything that you thought should have been included in the film that was omitted?

"What was missing from the film was what I found in jail — a sense of self and the trite but true notion of appreciating each moment. I discovered my reason for being, which is simply to love. It took a lot of banging my hard head against the wall, literally and figuratively, to realize this truth. They didn't deal with it in the film but that made the entire experience worth it."

Tell me about Midnight Return.

"It's a follow-up book about the really weird part of my prison experience — returning to the U.S. and becoming a little mini-celebrity, with all that entails. Hope to get it published one of these days."

Can you give me an example of mini-celebrity weirdness?

"February 20th and 24th in 1980 I was mentioned in the Steve Canyon comic strip. From the bizarre to the surreal. How weird is that?"

Oh, yeah? Well, I was mentioned in Pogo and Zippy the Pinhead. You get used to it. Anyway, now I'll start waiting for Oliver Stone to apologize to Greece for Alexander.
who likes movies anyway